We have an adversary, an enemy in Satan. Paul describes Satan as the “god of this world” while Jesus described his character as being a “murder from the beginning” and “the father of lies”¹ Satan is not deity! He is not equal with God. Satan is a created being who prideful rebelled against God.² Even though Satan is such a powerful force he is largely forgotten by our world. Here are 3 things I wish everyone knew about Satan.
1. Satan is real. A 2009 Barna group survey revealed, “Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan ‘is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.’ An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective.”³ Most people do not believe Satan is even real. This is one of his supreme deceptions, in that he has convinced humanity that he doesn’t even exist. Jesus saw his purpose and work as coming to “destroy the works of the devil”4. Satan is real. The Apostle Peter said he went about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour5. In the book of Job, Satan is described as going into the very throne room of God. He has a conversation with God and reeks havoc on the life of Job. Job likely didn’t know or understand the existence of Satan, but he certainly was affected by him. So our world today, largely ignores the existence of Satan, but it is certainly greatly affected by him as the suffering and sin of our age attest.
2. Satan wants to hurt God by hurting them. Satan is enraged because he has been defeated at the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Thus, he is enraged and knows he has a limited time to take as many of God’s children with him to hell as possible6. We all understand that a good father loves his children more than his own life. So our heavenly Father has such great love for humanity. Satan can’t defeat God, but he can attack the ones He holds most dear. Thus, Satan wants your soul in hell! He dupes us with lies such as this world being about happiness, prosperity, and pleasure. Satan seeks to ruin our relationships. He rejoices at divorce and gains pleasure from discord! Satan wants to divide congregations, and chiefly, desires to keep people separated from the saving gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of His word. For each person he keeps in his fold, he is able to hurt the heart of God!
3. Satan is defeated. The world views Satan and his scheme as normal, fun, and the best type of life. People foolishly see hell as Satan’s playground and scoff at the idea floating around all day on clouds. They had much rather be with Satan where the party never dies. What a misconception of hell! Hell is not Satan’s eternal party, but his eternal punishment! Satan is defeated and will be punished for all eternity in hell7. Satan has no more power over humanity because of the cross of Christ. He can no longer accuse us of sin, when we are forgiven in Christ8. His greatest threat of death, holds us no longer in slavery because of the resurrection of Christ9. We are freed from his deceptions through he truth of God’s word10. Satan is defeated through Jesus!
Let’s expose the truth about Satan! We have an enemy. He is real. He wants to harm our lives, our families, and the precious church of Christ. But his ruin and defeat is certain. Let us never choose to be on his side!
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1 – 2 Cor. 4:4; John 8:44
2 – Satan is not deity, so he is a created being (angel) – Col. 2:16 – for more information see this article: http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=135
3 – https://www.barna.org/barna-update/faith-spirituality/260-most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exis#.VYGA_GCElTY
4. – 1 John 3:8; Also Acts 10:38; Mark 3:22-27; John 12:31-32
5 – 1 Peter 5:8
6 – Revelation 12
7 – Revelation 20:9-10; Mat. 25:41
8 – Rev. 12:10; Acts 26:18; Rom. 8:1
9 – Heb. 2:14-16; John 11
10 – 2 Peter 1:3; Rev. 12:13-17; 2 Thess. 2:9-10; John 8:31-32; Heb. 4:12
